Referral Candy & Affiliate

Referral Candy & Affiliate

Reviews (2,175)

Overall rating
4.8
Counts per rating level
  • 89% of ratings are 5 stars
  • 9% of ratings are 4 stars
  • 1% of ratings are 3 stars
  • 0% of ratings are 2 stars
  • 1% of ratings are 1 stars
What merchants think

Feedback submitted

Merchants highly recommend this app for its effective referral program management, noting its user-friendly interface and robust features like customizable HTML and CSS. They appreciate its seamless integration with platforms like Shopify and Klaviyo and commend the exceptional customer support for its responsiveness and helpfulness.

October 30, 2024

WARNING: Absolute SCAM! Do Not Trust This App!

We installed this app on our international store as a trial, but when we tried to cancel over a year ago, the process was a nightmare. Not only did they make it incredibly difficult to even contact customer support (we had to reinstall the app just to reach them!), but they also continued to bill us for an entire year without our usage even after we requested cancellation and that was over a year ago. After expressing our frustration, they further retaliated by suspending our account to prevent us from posting any negative reviews. This is, without a doubt, the worst customer service experience and the most deceitful Shopify app we have ever dealt with. Stay away if you value your time and money!

Carbo Electric Bike - Europe
Netherlands
7 days using the app
ReferralCandy replied November 1, 2024

Hello Mira,

Thanks for the feedback, it provides an opportunity to clarify a few key points. Over a year ago, we provided cancellation instructions as requested, though recent activity logs show these went unread until recently, which led to continued billing. Support has remained available via multiple channels, and your account suspension was solely to prevent further charges, not to restrict reviews, which Shopify independently manages.

Also want to thank you for this experience as it has allowed us to further improve our processes to help protect merchants from potential user neglect. Since you created a new account to leave this review, please ensure it’s canceled if not needed to avoid any similar situation. - Jaime

September 10, 2024

I considered signing up for this platform but found the pricing structure to be potentially expensive for my needs. The app charges a flat fee of $59/month and an additional 3.5% commission per sale on the first three orders from each new client per affiliate.

For example, if you have 5 affiliates in a month, and each makes 5 sales, you would pay a 3.5% commission on the first 3 new customers for each affiliate:

Affiliate A: 3.5% x first 3 new customers
Affiliate B: 3.5% x first 3 new customers
Affiliate C: 3.5% x first 3 new customers
Affiliate D: 3.5% x first 3 new customers
Affiliate E: 3.5% x first 3 new customers

The costs can add up quickly. I would be more comfortable paying a higher monthly fee, like $99/month, with no additional commission fees, which would allow for a more predictable budget. Other tools offer a flat fee with no commission, which may be a better fit for some merchants.

Academy Ecommerce
United States
38 minutes using the app
ReferralCandy replied September 12, 2024

Thank you for your feedback Edwin. I understand your concerns about the pricing structure and how important it is to keep costs predictable.
Our commission model is designed to scale with your affiliate success, helping to keep costs low when sales are slower.

That said, I completely understand that this might not work for everyone.
Would love the opportunity to discuss this further with you and find a solution that better fits your needs.

I sent you an email to see if we could explore other pricing options. I hope to turn this around for you at the soonest.

Edited July 30, 2024

Worst support, the app does not work and it's quite complex for users to even use. Never ever use this app. I would recommend other options like smile.io . You cant even imagine the horrible support candy has.

Wise Men Healing
United States
3 months using the app
ReferralCandy replied July 3, 2024

Hi Lydia, this is Dwight, I lead the support team at ReferralCandy.

I’m sorry to hear you’ve had a frustrating experience with our app and support. That’s definitely not what we aim for. We’d love to make it right.
Your concern about the discount code has been investigated and I sent you an email that clarifies everything.

I am committed to getting this sorted for you so I hope to hear from you soon.

September 12, 2021

Overcharged due to a customer having the order cancelled and then created again. Reached out to referral candy about this clearly being an identical customer and they responded back saying a refund couldn't be processed.

SmileLife IE
Ireland
Almost 2 years using the app
ReferralCandy replied September 12, 2021

Hey there, thanks for bringing this up. What you described does seem problematic. Let me get with my team to see how we can get this sorted. Please standby, we will be reaching out soon!

**UPDATE**
Hi again, we completed our review of the concern you raised and found that a problem with how your store integrated with ReferralCandy caused the duplicates in question. We can help you correct this. I've sent you an email with more details and would love to get on call to get everything sorted. Meantime, a refund is on it's way. I apologize for the experience and hopefully you can give us another try. - Derek

December 11, 2020

We have been using this app for awhile and there is one major item we believe it is missing... there NO way to "Approve" a referral. We have made a request to add an "Approve" option to other options: Delete, Void, and Ban, but we were told, an "Approve option is currently not in place within the dashboard, but this is something I can raise to our design team" ... without an "Approve" option, even after we review a referral it will continue to show "pending review" since there is no way to "Approve" a referral... this appears to be a major omission to us. If an "Approve" option is added we will revise our rating...

Big Sky International
United States
About 1 year using the app
ReferralCandy replied April 23, 2021

Hey Bob, thank you for your review, and for using us for over a year.

We're sorry that this crucial feature is lacking.
We're redesigning the way transactions are handled (suspicious or otherwise), and we're building a Fraud Centre to make it easier for retailers to manage.

We hope you'll give us a chance in the future as well, thank you. --Darren F.

February 17, 2021

This is a predatory and unethical app. Referral Candy makes it virtually impossible to delete or downgrade the app. This should not be in the Shopify app store until Referral Candy changes their behavior.

Heylow
United States
3 months using the app
ReferralCandy replied April 23, 2021

Hey Patrick, your account manager Derek tried to reach out to you several times, but did not hear back.

It looks like you tried to downgrade ReferralCandy, but this is not possible as we only have one pricing option.

We're sorry to see you delete the app, but we hope you'll give us another try in the future. Thank you -- Jaime R.

December 3, 2020

Not even 1 sale with this referral program, and I have been already charged $49 for nothing. I guess they do not care.

miniplum
United Kingdom
2 months using the app
ReferralCandy replied December 3, 2020

Hi Miniplum Team, We tried to get in touch with you guys as soon as our team saw this review. We'll be more than happy to get your referral campaign sorted. Looking forward to hearing from you.

October 12, 2021

Terrible app and even worse support. Discount codes do not work on the "new" shopify checkout, wasted 3 weeks waiting for a reply from support, coveniently in that time I was billed, only to be told they can help and ticket was closed.

Food4Thoughts
United Kingdom
2 months using the app
ReferralCandy replied October 12, 2021

Hi there, I apologize for this. Three weeks of back and forth conversations with our team is not a great experience. Regardless of how involved some of our processes are in order to provide you accurate responses, we could have done a better job. A refund is on it's way and I hope you can give us a chance to sort everything out. We've reached out to you and hope to hear back.

Edited December 11, 2020

Do not waste your time or money with this business. I've run multiple million $ Shopify stores over the last 10 years and I must say I have never come across customer service this bad, ever! It doesn't exist! I've sent multiple messages both direct on their control panel, via website and email. I've even responded to their standard email marketing messages asking for someone to contact me and I've received NOTHING. Not 1 email. Not 1 call. Nothing! Zero! I see other reviews here saying they received 'responsive and quick customer service' but I don't know how this is possible. If this is the case why did they not respond to me? After 30 days of waiting I'm now chucking the towel in. Let me assure you, that when it comes to choosing app developers to work on your Shopify store it is imperative that they offer good quality customer service. Especially with an area linked to referrals as it can involve a fair bit of connectivity across all marketing channels including discount codes/offers etc and if this isn't right from the beginning you are going to have a whole lot of unhappy customers which is NOT what you want from a referral app. If I was you, I'd look elsewhere and grab one of the other many referral apps that provide you with the support and ongoing cutsomer care you need and deserve.
UPDATE:
We have so far had 3 amendments to ReferralCandy's response to my review! The first saying they didn't receive any messages, then that they did and responded but the response must be in my spam and now that they don't know why the responses they didn't send didn't reach me. Well we know it's because you didn't respond. And when today you read my review, for the first time since signing up with your app I got an email from your support straight into my inbox! Strange that! I mean why do messages from you work now but didn't before? Like I said, you just couldn't be bothered to respond or help after I reached out to you for support.
Perhaps if you had made the same effort to make 'several attempts to reach me' when I first contacted you we wouldn't be in this situation and discussing your atrocious customer service on a review platform of your services. This is ridiculous. And your stance on your response where you try and remove yourself from any blame whatsoever is disgraceful. All Shopify owners should take notice. Your messages to me today (after I left a review) were the first I have ever had from you in 30 days since I originally reached out and I find that (and your false lying claims) incompatible with a working relationship. Avoid.

Eden Ashram
United Kingdom
About 1 month using the app
ReferralCandy replied December 11, 2020

Hi Greg, it’s unfortunate that the replies we sent to your 2 messages did not reach you. We work very hard to give our clients a great experience when engaging with our team. Earlier today, we made several attempts to reach you. It looks like you responded once but nothing after that. We’ll be on the look out in case you do send us another message.

Edited October 3, 2022

The only communication with customer service is by email, no phone number to call, and they take a few days in responding. The app doesn't even work like it is supposed to and keeps spamming my customer with invitations that don´t even work

THE PARABALL
United States
27 days using the app
ReferralCandy replied September 29, 2022

Hi there. Our sincerest apologies if you had a hard time setting up the campaign. One of our success managers will be reaching out to you via chat and email to help you with your concerns. We're hoping to hear from you real soon. :)

UPDATE:
Hi there. Looks like you got in touch with one of our success managers via chat last Friday. We're wondering if the concern you raised was resolved or you need further assistance? We will be sending you another email today so we can fully assist you with any other concerns you many have, and hopefully schedule a call with you. Looking forward to hear form you again. :)